Chase Down My Hearts
by MayFairy
Summary: Rosa works for the Celestial Intervention Agency - meaning her job is make sure that the Web of Time is secure, and that her planet is safe. Problem is, some idiot has been cartwheeling across history and changing around major points like it's some kind of game. When Rosa is sent to track her down, she gets a bit more than she bargained for. [DW universe AU, Dianetti]
1. The Time Meddler

**Birthday present for the wonderful 'peraltiagoisland' on Tumblr.**

 **In the case of Holt, Rosa, and Gina (and later, Kevin and Terry), to make their names more "Time Lord"-ish, I've sort of gone for a method of mashing up their first and last names for the weirder, alien feel. Except Holt's is still kind of stiff because really, it was always going to be.**

* * *

Part 1 - The Time Meddler

"She's averted the assassination of JFK."

A data slice violently slides onto Holtmond's monitor, making him blink up at the livid face of his best operative, Rosadiazana (Rosa, for short), who had her hands planted on his desk.

"JFK?" Holt asks.

"John F. Kennedy. Famously assassinated world leader from 20th century Earth."

"Ah yes, of course, I wasn't sure if you were referring to him or Kraxel Minor's Jenaastra Fenda Kel the Third and most wonderfully glorious and divine and wise and shining, also famously assassinated and thus ending a prominent local religion," Holt says, nodding.

Rosa frowns. "Right. Well, anyway. It's the third fixed point she's altered in one rotation! And those _idiots_ you keep sending after her clearly aren't getting the job done!"

"I quite agree," Holt replies. "Which is why I'm sending you, Agent."

"Me?" Rosa looks disheartened, before gritting her teeth and nodding. "Fair enough. I guess… if you want something done, you have to do it yourself."

"I have every faith in you."

"Thank you, Coordinator," Rosa says, nodding again before turning to leave.

"Agent?"

"Yes, sir?"

"The rumours about her travelling with… humans. Is it true?"

Rosa sighs. "It seems to be the case, sir. The last pair you sent after her found themselves tied up by one who apparently spent at least five minutes bragging and proclaiming himself to be called Jake Peralta."

* * *

Rosa's people are… complicated. Complicated, and pretentious in a way she can't stand. (But then, she can't quite kick the innate sense of superiority herself, either, dammit.)

It's in the name, of course. Time Lord. Aristocrats with dominion over time, the dimension only they have the true ability to control. Most of them are just that. Dull nobility, politicians, or academics, so caught up in their old fashioned tradition to bother giving any newer alternatives any thought.

Holtmond is perhaps stuffy, but he's intelligent in practical ways as well as academic. He might be shrewd and cunning like many others, but he is far more honest and forthright than almost any Time Lord that Rosa has ever met.

She's lucky to have him and not some close minded busybody as her boss.

But then, they're hardly in a conventional line of work. Only the higher ups in their society even know that their organisation exists - it's safer for everyone, that way. Plausible deniability, and all that.

The Celestial Intervention Agency has two major concerns. Homeland security, and the preservation of the web of time. Which is why a renegade running around changing history, seemingly on a whim, is making Rosa's life hell.

Ginettina of House Brightshore is not the most notorious renegade this planet has ever produced. Far from it. She's not some idiotic hero, and she's not some murdering megalomaniac. She's not a household name used to deter children from rule breaking. Most people on Gallifrey probably don't even know who she is - if only because the CIA are doing their absolute best to keep her disruptive exploits from being public knowledge.

Still, if she keeps up this nonsense, not even Holtmond will be able to manage that.

Rosa strides through the TARDIS bays until she comes to the section reserved for vehicles designated to the CIA. She doesn't exactly have one of her own yet, not officially, but she has one she's taken on seven previous excursions, one that seems to welcome her like a friend these days.

She rests her hand on the exterior when she reaches it. "Hey," she says, simply, only to glance around and check no one had seen her being so silly. (But is it really silly? When she'd definitely felt a brief presence in her mind, a brief flash of greeting from the ship's matrix? Some would probably still say so, Rosa herself possibly included.)

She heads inside and starts entering in the biodata for Ginettina into the TARDIS console, so that she should be able to track her movements across time and space. It's strange, to think that this distant, irritating figure is someone she is about to come face to face with.

What will she be like, this person who seems to be cartwheeling across history, colouring over sections and outside the lines however she pleases?

Rosa checks the TARDIS is on course, before heading to the wardrobe. If she's going offworld, CIA robes aren't going to be practical. She finds some leggings, a tunic, and some nice solid boots, all black but for the tunic, which is white. She doesn't like any of the warmer garments in the main section, though, and decides to explore the clothes from other cultures. She finds a longer black coat, and goes with that.

She returns to the console room, fidgeting in the feeling of unfamiliar clothing, and checks the flight path. Shit. It's changed.

"Where the hell are you going now?" Rosa mutters.

When the TARDIS finally lands, Rosa tucks her small staser, set to stun, into the pocket of her coat, and heads outside after checking that the environment is safe. It's not Ginettina's usual kind of stop, from what she has been able to make out. No big history to mess with. The TARDIS scan revealed only one major settlement on the whole planet, and on the opposite side to where Ginettina and her TARDIS seem to be.

What it _is_ is… green. Unsettlingly green. Rosa's never seen so much green in her whole life, given that she comes from a planet of red grass and silver trees - and as a child of the Capitol she's not sure she's ever seen this many trees in all her life, either.

She shakes her head at herself. Still a typical Time Lord in so many ways, no matter how much she likes to think otherwise. But then, some Time Lords would probably have a mental breakdown just from being outside, so she's not wrong in thinking she's still a mile ahead of some of her kindred. (Give her a neat, paved street lined with tall buildings any day, though.)

There are voices in the distance. Four distinct ones, jovial shouts and laughter that make Rosa's jaw clench. They're enjoying themselves. Having fun. These humans with Ginettina can have no concept of just how much damage their Time Lady friend is doing. No concept of what they are accomplices to.

And as for Ginettina herself… well, Rosa has some choice words for her, and a stun gun so that she can drag the renegade's reckless ass back to Gallifrey and have her punished.

Rosa keeps herself hidden in the cover of the tree line as she comes to the oasis of sorts where the group are enjoying themselves. A huge pool of sparkling water, high rocks and a waterfall, and a smaller pool that seems to be steaming.

Two of the humans are scaling the rocks by the waterfall while another yells at them about how it's dangerous.

"Sounds to me like you're too scared, Santiago!" the highest human shouts, and the young woman with shining dark hair scowls and starts climbing after him.

From the steaming pool, the other woman in the group chuckles at their antics and shuts her eyes again, leaning back with contentment. Rosa's psychic sense pinpoints her as a Time Lady.

"Gotcha," Rosa whispers, before striding out into the open, heading right for her.

"Woah, hot scary lady alert," the shorter male human says from his perch on the rocks.

"What are you - oh, damn," the other male human says, both of them staring at Rosa, who ignores them and continues on towards Ginettina, who doesn't seem to have heard them, or else just doesn't care.

"Gina! Incoming!" the girl named Santiago shouts.

"I know, Ames. It's all good, girl," Ginettina replies, still not opening her eyes. "I told you, none of them can sneak up on me."

"Ginettina of House Brightshore and the Prydonian chapter, you're under arrest for interference and willful damage to the web of time," Rosa tells her as she comes to stop by the pool.

Ginettina cracks open one of her eyes to look at Rosa, only to open both of her eyes a moment later and lift an eyebrow.

"Well well well, looks like they finally fulfilled my request to be pursued by a gorgeous, angry brunette type with a well placed scar," she says, looking at Rosa with an appreciation that almost throws Rosa completely.

"You didn't request that," Rosa replies, frowning.

"How do you know?"

"Because I've been leading the case of your capture."

Ginettina looks more interested now. "Really?" She chuckles, and there's an annoying smug confidence to her. "Must be a bit embarrassing for you, huh? Me giving all your little friends the slip over and over."

"Not as embarrassing as resorting to humans for company," Rosa retorts.

"Hey!" At least two of the humans sound fairly offended, not that Rosa particularly cares.

Ginettina shrugs. "Right, because meanwhile xenophobia gives you that real nice edge," she says to Rosa, who blinks at her, not having thought about it like that.

"Look, it doesn't matter," Rosa replies. "You've been changing fixed points, too many more and you'll have caused permanent damage to the web of time! Do you… not even realise how serious this is?

"I mean, isn't it _your_ job to fix it all? How serious can it be when I know you're tidying up after me as I go?"

"That's not how it works."

"Then why was JFK murdered at a spontaneously scheduled outdoor party the night of the day he was supposed to die?"

Rosa had had to get… creative with that particular solution. _The details change, the story stays the same_ , and all that. It might change the history of a few television shows trying to start up around the time that the news of Kennedy's death was meant to be airing, but surely none of them can be drastically important in the long run.

"Why the hell did you save him in the first place?"

"Because he was way too hot to die," Ginettina says, like it's obvious.

Rosa stares at her. "You messed with a fixed point because of - some human's symmetrical face?! What the hell is wrong with you? He's human anyway, why would you-"

"Xenophobia," Ginettina says again, tutting and looking at Rosa with disappointment. "You know, for a second, I thought you might actually be interesting. But nope, looks like you're the same kind of stick in the mud they always send, just with better hair."

Rosa gets out the stun gun. "Out of the pool, now."

Ginettina smirks and gets out, revealing that she's only dressed in a small two piece swimsuit. Now that Rosa thinks on it, the humans are dressed in a similar manner.

It's more skin than Rosa has seen in her whole life, and she can feel her cheeks flushing as she tries not to look.

"Aw, classic Time Lord prude, that's kind of adorable on you," Ginettina coos, all condescending.

"Just shut up and get moving."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm just not about that whole 'answering to my crimes' and 'dealing with consequences' thing," the renegade says, making a face. "Such a drag, you know? I got other things to do."

"Like taking a bunch of humans swimming and sitting in heated pools?"

Ginettina does a singular finger gun in her direction, grinning. "Exactly."

"I'm bringing you in with or without your cooperation," Rosa says, scowling at her, gripping the stun gun tighter.

"I'd like to see you try," Ginettina scoffs.

So, Rosa shoots her. As her body drops, unconscious, Rosa is vaguely aware of Santiago and the shorter male human shouting, and has just enough time to wonder where the heck the third human is before a hard, blunt pain registers on the back of her head, and she has her answer.

She doesn't remember hitting the ground.

* * *

When Rosa wakes up, she has a headache, and no prisoner or humans in sight. Damn.

Cursing and grumbling, Rosa picks herself back up and makes her way back to her TARDIS. Once inside, she sets it to find Ginettina's bio trace again, and off she goes. As the ship makes the journey, she decides to check in with Holtmond.

" _Agent_ _, what progress have you made?"_

"Made contact with her, but she got away," Rosa says, rubbing the back of her head, which is throbbing painfully. "I think one of the humans managed to sneak up on me. The one called Peralta."

" _Yes, the records show that he's usually the one causing the most trouble for our agents,"_ Holtmond says, nodding. _"Well, I'm sure I can count on you to have learned from the experience, and that you'll be more successful when you next find her."_

"Of course, sir," Rosa says.

This time, it seems she has followed Ginettina and her… companions, to an Earth city with a shining harbour and a lot of tourists. Rosa steps out from behind the tree that her TARDIS has disguised itself as and moves through the park quietly, trying to spot Ginettina.

As it turns out, she hears her before anything else.

"Here we are, kids, _Australia_!" Ginettina is using the most horrendous accent Rosa has ever heard in her life, and the CIA agent can't help but wince.

"Oh my god, look, that's the opera house over there," the human called Santiago says, and Rosa gets them in her line of sight just in time to see her pointing across the water to a building of rather unique design. "It's an architectural wonder."

"Amy, seriously, only you could travel with an alien and still find a way to make things boring," Peralta says, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry, this coming from the guy whose first request out of all the destinations in all of time and space was _Taco Bell_?"

"It was Taco Bell _on the moon_ , Amy, and I was hungry!"

Rosa is debating on how to handle the situation - it's tricky, when there's so many clueless humans around, she can't let them know anything strange is afoot. But before she can come to a decision -

"Are you gonna hide behind that tree all afternoon?" Ginettina asks, suddenly turning to look right at Rosa, head tilted. Or at least, Rosa is fairly sure she's looking right at her, but she's wearing sunglasses, so it's hard to be sure.

"Wait, who's hiding behind a tree?" the shorter male human asks.

"Santiago's sense of fun, probably," Peralta snorts.

"Actually, Charles, I was referring to Miss Tall Dark and Gorgeously Irritating," Ginettina says with a smirk.

Rosa steps out and into the full sunlight, and the three humans look shocked.

" _You_ again?!" Peralta asks. "Gina, permission to whack her over the head again."

"Permission denied, Jake," Ginettina says, rolling her eyes. "She can't do anything here, there's too many people around. See? Look at her face. She knows it, I know it, and you'd know it if you had anything on your mind other than flirting with Amy."

" _Flirting_?!" Jake looks horrified, but not as much as Amy. "I wasn't - I would never - not with _Amy-_ "

"I knew it! I knew I wasn't the only one who sees it!" Charles whooped. "If the super intelligent alien can see it too, then it must be real."

"The super intelligent alien also thinks that Crocodile Dundee is a better movie than Die Hard," Jake retorts, "so just because she's a genius, does _not_ mean she's right about everything."

"You're so cute when you're horrendously wrong, Jake. Now, who wants ice cream?" Ginettina asks. "My treat, obvs."

"Yes!" Jake says. "Now that's what I'm talking about." He looks between Gina, who is in jeans and a coat, and Rosa, still in her coat and leggings and boots. "Seriously, are you two not like, literally boiling from the inside out?"

Rosa takes note of the clothing the others are wearing. Shorts, light shirts. Likely because of the heat that they, as humans, are quite sensitive to.

"Our biology isn't as sensitive as yours, we're all good," Ginettina tells Jake. "So, ice cream. This way then, kids."

"Are we… not going to deal with the fact that the woman who _shot you_ has just turned up again?" Amy asks, frowning deeply in Rosa's direction.

"Nah," Ginettina says, smirking. "Like I say, she's stuck for the moment." She turns to head off, before looking over her shoulder and grinning at Rosa. "You coming, Agent?"

"You're inviting her for ice cream?!" Jake yelps.

Ginettina shrugs. "Might as well, she's gonna follow us anyway."

They start walking towards a brightly coloured mobile trailer in the distance, and Rosa, thoroughly unsettled and not remotely sure how to proceed, falls into step with Ginettina and the humans.

"So, Agent, you got a name?" Ginettina asks.

"Rosadiazana."

"Pretty. Rosa for short?"

" _You_ can just call me Agent," Rosa replies irritably.

Ginettina grins. "Pretty sure I'm gonna call you Rosa."

"So, I guess aliens can be Latina, not just white?" Amy asks, glancing at Rosa with great interest. Rosa just lifts an eyebrow at her. "I mean, it obviously makes way more sense, but you see enough whitewashed movies and then meet a white alien and you have to wonder, you know?"

Rosa glances at Ginettina. "What the hell is she talking about?"

"You're wasting your time trying to talk about that kind of thing with a Time Lord, Ames," Ginettina says, chuckling, "the only racial awareness they tend to have is that as a species, they think they're better than anyone else. Skin colour doesn't have anything to do with it - I told you, we change appearance like we change a profile picture."

"Oh, right," Amy says, looking slightly disappointed, before perking up. "I mean, I guess it's actually kinda cool, that that kind of thing isn't an issue for you guys."

"Yeah, just nice dose of general xenophobia and superiority instead," Ginettina says, snorting. "We all got our issues, Ames."

"Okay, can we just address the obvious here?" Peralta asks. "Why are we suddenly all chill with the latest agent to come after us? And who exactly _are_ all these people out to get you, anyway?"

"One, because she's the gorgeous brooding type I can't resist. Two, I told you, they're giant stick in the muds."

"We're CIA," Rosa growls.

Amy snaps her fingers at her. "Ha! No way you're CIA, you're an alien, same as Gina."

"Not your CIA, Ames, _our_ CIA," Ginettina says, chuckling and popping a cherry in her mouth. "Celestial Intervention Agency. Same basic principle, though. Homeland security, plausible deniability, all that jazz."

"Okay, that's kind of awesome," Jake says. "Except that I don't get why you're after Gina. She's not done anything wrong."

"She's done everything wrong," Rosa snarls. "You think doing things like saving Kennedy and the Library of Alexandria is all fun and games? Those are fixed points in history, they have to stay how they are, or the web of time could disintegrate."

"The Library was on me," Santiago says sheepishly. "I was complaining about how it was such a loss of knowledge, and so she said she'd save it for me."

"She was so excited, it was adorable," Jake adds, only for the others to look at him funny. An odd panic crosses his face as he hurries to add, "uh, adorably _lame_ , that is. Obviously."

"Anyway, I guess your lot are why it only lasted a few more days, huh?" Amy asks Rosa.

Rosa nods. "We have to fix things as much as we're able."

"Okay, no more serious talk for a bit, god," Ginettina groans. "You're all killing my buzz. You better not have turned my dumb humans against me and my idea of fun, Rosa."

"No way, you're still one of the most awesome people I've ever met," Jake insists. "Besides, why should we believe someone who _shot you_?"

"It was only set to stun," Ginettina and Rosa say at the same time, only to look at each other curiously a moment later.

That's when they reach the ice cream stand, and the humans place their orders before Ginettina orders her own as well, and then looks at Rosa expectantly, only for Rosa to serve her a blank look in return.

"You getting anything, _Agent_?"

"No," Rosa says, frowning.

Ginettina shrugs. "Suit yourself." She pays for the ice creams and the humans move off with theirs, getting a bit ahead before Jake whirls around and narrows his eyes at Rosa.

"Wait, we can't get too far away, she might try something," he says.

Gina chuckles and reaches out with her free hand to clasp his shoulder. "Jake. Kiddo. I'm a genius alien with two hearts and the literal ability to reboot my body in a new form if I die. I can handle myself, m'kay?"

"Okay, if you're sure," Jake says, frowning.

"Go flirt with your girl, I got this."

"She is _not-_ "

"Be gone. Now."

Jake grumbles under his breath as he moves to catch Amy and Charles up. Immediately, Rosa can see that he's started exchanging banter with Amy, while Charles just grins at them.

"Crazy kids," Ginettina says fondly, shaking her head and licking her ice cream.

"Where did you _find_ them?" Rosa asks.

"A Brooklyn police precinct," Ginettina replies. "Their commanding officer was actually a Slitheen in disguise. I pretended to be a secretary to like, investigate and stuff. They ended up helping me out. And since the Slitheen had like…. kinda eaten a couple of their coworkers, they were a bit shaken up. I asked if they wanted a break, come see the universe and all that. And they said yes."

"You don't really seem like the type to bother with things like a minor Slitheen incursion."

"Little punk had stolen a necklace off me, so I was willing to do pretty much anything to get it back."

"Okay... but you also don't seem like the type to randomly feel like offering humans some kind of weird space travel therapy out of the good of your heart, either," Rosa points out.

"Yeah, I know, I guess I just thought they were kind of cute," Ginettina admits, "like little puppies or those funny little noseless caterpillars on Vermillion Five. And they thought I was like, the most awesome person they'd ever met, and I thrive on praise, so… it seemed to work out."

"Aren't they kind of… a nuisance to keep an eye on, though? I thought humans were like… super fragile."

"Well, yeah," Ginettina says. "And dumb. _So dumb_. And small minded. But also, like, not. They have strong hearts." She makes a face. "Gross, I'm going all sentimental like them."

They come to lean on the outer railing of the footpath, and look over the glistening waters of Sydney Harbour. They stand there in silence for a time, while Ginettina eats her ice cream.

"Blue sky is weird," Rosa eventually says, not because she feels the need to break the silence, but because the thought has been bugging her for the last five minutes at least, and she needs to express it to the one person who could understand what she's used to instead.

"Better than orange sky," Ginettina retorts.

"That's a matter of opinion."

"Not really. Orange is a terrible colour."

"Still a matter of opinion."

More silence. Again, Rosa is the one to break it, but not because she hates silence - quite the opposite - but because she has a damn job to do, and Ginettina is making it difficult by being... well, Rosa isn't sure _what_ she's being, but it's definitely a problem.

"Look, Ginettina, you have to realise why I'm taking this so seriously," Rosa says, sighing.

"Ew, okay, call me that again and I will dump the rest of this ice cream in your face," Ginettina complains. "Call me Gina, seriously."

"Fine."

"You may now continue with what I'm sure will be an awesomely boring lecture."

Rosa is almost completely out of patience, and gets up in Gina's personal space. "Look, it's not like you're just running around getting into dumb little scrapes and changing meaningless little details or bigger things that are totally in flux. You and I both know that there are already a couple of people running around doing that shit, and it's not ideal but it's more or less fine."

Gina mutters something under her breath about 'idiot in a long scarf'.

"Exactly. But you're deliberately going after fixed points. You can't. Do that. You could shatter everything," Rosa says.

Gina sighs, and actually looks sheepish. "Yeah, I know. My bad, I guess."

"Then why keep doing it?"

"Cause I knew I could get away with it!" Gina says, shrugging. "I knew you guys would keep fixing up my messes and sending me all those dumb agents and letting me and my little gang totally humiliate them. It's awesome."

Rosa stares at her. "You're doing this for the CIA attention?!"

"Well, yeah." Gina makes a face. "Except for Kennedy, that really was just about me trying to get a foot in the door of that sweet Presidential bedroom. Metaphorically speaking, of course, it was obviously Dallas where I hooked up with him and his wife."

"You had sex with the Kennedys?!"

"Uh, yeah, I knew you guys would be killing John off properly soon and wanted to make sure I gave him and his wife the time of their lives in the precious new hours they had left."

Rosa can barely believe her ears. She can barely get her head around the idea of having sex with a human, let alone the kind of crap Gina had apparently pulled. "You're unbelievable."

"Unbelievably awesome, I know."

Gina seems somewhat distracted, and Rosa follows her gaze to a shirtless man who happens to be jogging past.

"Seriously?"

"I used to look like that," Gina says, sighing heavily. "I was this amazing, muscular guy. With an eight pack. I had _abs_. I miss that. But no, I had to get caught up in that big ass radiation bomb and turn into… this." She gestures to herself. "Why is regeneration such a damn lottery?"

Rosa lifts an eyebrow, and Gina ends up cackling.

"Okay, who am I kidding, this me is pretty great," she says. "Especially, you know, the boobs. But I do miss the eight pack. This body has the muscles, you just can't see them no matter what." She looks at Rosa and grins, waggling her eyebrows. "You wanna feel?"

"What? No," Rosa says, back to thinking Gina must genuinely be insane.

"Fine, your loss," Gina says, already having moved on to putting a fresh coat of lip gloss on her lips. "Well, Rosadiazana of the CIA, this has been real fun and all, but I should probably get back to my humans now."

"You know I'm not leaving."

"It's so cute that you think that you have a choice," Gina says, putting her chin in her hand, elbow resting on the railing.

"What the hell is that supposed to-"

Before she knows what is happening, Gina has leaned forward and pressed her lips to Rosa's, kissing her firmly, even slipping her just a little bit of tongue. Rosa, despite mostly being too shocked to do anything, is vaguely aware of her lips instinctively kissing Gina back.

Gina pulls away, and smirks, while Rosa just stares.

"What the hell - wait-" Rosa wavers as her head starts swimming, and her hand goes to her lips. A horrible realisation washes off her and she looks at Gina with new fury. "What did you-"

"Paralysing lip gloss, learnt it off a couple of hot Time Agents a few years back," Gina says with a grin. "Except, you know, I reworked the formula a bit, made it so it doesn't start shutting down your vital organs if you don't get the antidote within like, an hour. Grisly murder ain't really my thing. This version will just wear off in about that time instead."

Rosa feels her legs giving out on her, and Gina catches her and holds her up. Their chests are pressed together, and Rosa is so glad that she's too fucking livid to take any proper notice of how pretty Gina actually is, especially this close up, or how nice she smells. Mostly.

"Come on, Agent, let's get you back to your ship," Gina says, half carrying her back across the footpath and into the grassy area.

"It's disguised as a tree, you'll never find it."

"Bitch, please, I'm a telepathic goddess, I can sniff out an eleventh dimensional matrix like it's a New York pizza."

"That…" It's a struggle for Rosa to even talk. Her whole body feels so heavy. "Means…. nothing… to me."

"Man, you're gonna make me cry with how uncultured you are, Rosa. We might need to fix that, when we see each other again. We'll get your dumb CIA ass a pizza, okay?"

"Gonna… kick… your... dumb ass…"

Gina stops outside the tree that Rosa knows is her TARDIS, and fishes in Rosa's pockets for the key before opening up the door in the back and hauling Rosa inside and setting her gently on the ground.

"There you go." Gina pats her arm, and before getting up, tilts her head and leans down to press a kiss to the corner of Rosa's mouth. "Catch you later, girl."

With that, she walks out of Rosa's TARDIS, leaving her able to do nothing but wonder just what the hell she's managed to get herself into, because her hearts are pounding in her chest and she's not sure it has anything to do with the chemical on her lips.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!**


	2. More Than Bargained For

**It took me a while, but part two is finally here! There will probably be more like four parts in total, as opposed to three, whoops.**

* * *

When Rosa next finds Gina and her companions, it's in 15th century Prague. Rosa can't be bothered changing into less anachronistic clothing, mostly because she's too fucking livid about being paralysed on the floor of her TARDIS for an hour. She marches right out of the doors in her coat and tunic to find the Time Lady menace who is determined to make her life difficult.

"Well well well, look who it is," says Charles, who spots her first, and strides up to her, crossing his arms over her chest. "You haven't even bothered to dress up. Disappointing."

"I'm sorry, what gave you the impression that you could talk to me?" Rosa asks, narrowing her eyes at him before walking around him and making a beeline for Gina, who is busy carefully stealing a necklace from a stall.

"Oh hey, Rosa, there you are! I was starting to think you weren't coming!" Gina calls, grinning.

"Don't look happy to see me," Rosa says as she gets closer, glowering, "it's too weird."

"Sorry, babe, I don't take orders," Gina whispers in her ear, before twirling around and heading off to the bread stall that Amy and Jake are at.

Rosa ignores the dumb shiver down her spine and storms after her, this time grabbing her by the arm so that she can yank her around to look at her.

"Stop screwing around," she says. "You know I'll find a way to take you in eventually. I could stun you and your little friends and take all of you back to Gallifrey right now. Stop delaying the inevitable."

"Delaying the inevitable? That's called living, Rosa, you should try it sometime," Gina says without batting an eyelash, wrenching her arm out of Rosa's grip with impressive strength. "And, uh, you still can't stun us. Because we're still surrounded by people. Better luck next time, gorgeous. Go find someone else to bore."

Rose stares at her, livid, but a beeping in her pocket stops her from ripping Gina's head off or doing anything similar. The beeping must be from her communication pad, and so Rosa ducks into the nearest little alleyway to check on it.

 _My office. Check in. Now._

Rosa furiously taps a reply. _Busy._

 _Now._

Rosa can't believe this. She debates ignoring the message, but knows she can't, and storms out of the alleyway back in the direction of her TARDIS.

"Aw, leaving so soon?" Gina calls, cackling. "Tell old Holt I say hi!"

Rosa can't be sure if she's joking or not, but ignores her and heads into her ship, plotting a course for Gallifrey and resisting the urge to knock over the vase of lemons that serve as the console room's main decoration.

She fails, and now there are lemons everywhere.

Grumbling under her breath, she barely refrains from snapping at the person on the other end of the channel when they ask for her identification and clearance codes to let her through Gallifrey's transduction barriers.

Once through and landed, Rosa strides out of the TARDIS and through the many corridors and elevators, ignoring all those around her as she makes her way to the CIA headquarters and gives her clearance codes to get inside.

"I was _with her_ , I had her in my sights, and you call me back _now_?!" Rosa demands, enraged, only to stop short at the sight of another person in Holt's office. Leaning over to peer at one of the screens, a fair haired man of similar physical age to Holt looks up at her and raises his eyebrows.

"Ah. Agent Rosadiazana, I take it?"

"Yes," Rosa says, uncomfortably, wondering if she should feel embarrassed about her behaviour. "And you are?"

"Agent, this is my husband, Professor Kevner, of the Academy's literature department," Holt tells her.

"I teach xenoliterature, generally," Kevner adds. "Good to make your acquaintance, Rosa, I've heard a lot about you."

Rosa remembers now. She's not really one to take much interest in people's personal lives, but she knows if only just because of the sheer amount of tedious gossip about Holtmond and Kevner that she's had to shut out over the decades.

They married for love. It's practically unheard of in Gallifreyan society. Truly strange. Not everyone has an issue with it - Rosa could hardly care less - but old-fashioned types think marriage should be for political alliance between Houses and nothing else. If she is recalling right, Kevner's House, Mirraflex, held great disdain for Holt's house, Arpexia, and practically forbad the match. But the two of them had gotten married anyway. Quite the scandal.

Rosa, now looking at them, with the way that Holt seems a bit more relaxed just for Kevner's presence, finds herself quite impressed by them.

"Good to make your acquaintance too," Rosa says, nodding at Kevner. What she doesn't say is, _but what the hell are you doing here?_

"Kevner and I both taught Ginettina back when she was in the Academy and I was the professor of xenocriminology," Holt says, apparently reading her face well.

Rose blinks. "You _taught_ her? You didn't think to mention that before?"

"It didn't seem relevant, until it became more apparent that she's proving a truly elusive figure to catch, hence why I asked Kevner to lend his expertise as well. Can you explain the exact difficulties you are having when it comes to apprehending her?"

Rosa sighs, both embarrassed and annoyed. "It's just… she's a lot cleverer than she looks, okay? And sneaky. She keeps landing in public places where I can't afford to make a scene by trying to use force. And those humans of hers are loyal to her to a fault, which _really_ doesn't help."

"Humans, from what I gather, are prone to the kind of loyalty that borders on sheer stupidity," Kevner says airily.

"Definitely," Rosa agrees. "They all think she's just some awesome leader figure taking them on whatever kind of trips they want. They have no idea what they've gotten into."

"That's… troubling."

"Tell me about it." Rosa regards them both carefully. "So, what can you two tell me that will help me bring her in?"

"She's first and foremost an artist, a performer," Holtmond tells her. "She loves to show off, to have an audience."

"She's a genius," Kevner adds, making Rosa lift an eyebrow at him. "She does a good job of hiding it, but she is. But more important is _why_ she hides it - she does it so that people underestimate her, which they do, given all her frivolity. That's why she's been difficult to keep in line all her life, and impossible to catch now."

"Okay, got it, she's a manipulative genius who loves to show off. Anything else?" Rosa asks.

Holt sighs. "Only that… she may seem as though she cares as little for other people as she does for rules. But it isn't the case. Observe her with her… human friends." He makes a face. "I imagine she might surprise you."

Rosa frowns. "Sure, whatever."

"I expect you to make some progress soon, Agent," Holt tells her. "She may be slippery, but you're one of the best agents I've ever trained, and I do believe this is within your ability. But we don't have much time left before her antics are going to become public knowledge, and that will complicate things. I will use my last resort if I have to."

Kevner looks at Holt with surprise. "You'd pull him off desk duty for this?"

"I might not have a choice," Holt says. He looks at Rosa. "Let's hope we can avoid that. You're dismissed, Agent. Bring me my ex-pupil as soon as you can."

"Yes, Coordinator." She hesitates in the doorway on her way out. "I guess this explains why she told me to tell you she says hi."

Holt's face is impossible to read, and so is Kevner's when they glance at each other.

"Good luck, Agent," is all he says.

* * *

Gina's next stop is a theme park on the moon in the 64th century. Rosa's TARDIS disguises herself as an unstaffed popcorn booth, and when she has stepped out from behind it, she sees Gina and the others in line for a rollercoaster.

"Oh, hey Rosa!" Gina calls. "You like rollercoasters?"

Rosa has never been on a rollercoaster. She's not entirely sure she understands the _point_ of a rollercoaster. She isn't currently interested in finding out anything more about them as a concept.

"No," she says as she approaches the side of the queue line.

"Lame," Gina replies. "You should join us. You can cut, it's all good."

"No, it's not," someone from behind her says, at the exact same time that Amy voices an identical protest.

Gina turns around and stares at the stranger with a kind of genuine bewilderment that is also laced with disdain. "I'm sorry, did I ask? No. Didn't think so." She turns back around. "Also, Amy, I literally _never_ asked for your opinion about rule breaking and never will. Got it?"

Amy opens her mouth to protest only for Gina to put her finger over her lips as she turns to look at Rosa again.

"Awesome, glad we had this talk."

Amy pouts while Jake chuckles at her dismay.

"Seriously, Rosa, it'll be fun, come on," Gina tries again.

"I'll pass," Rosa says flatly.

"You are the _worst_ killjoy," Gina complains. "Seriously, can't you just have fun, for once?"

"I have fun," Rosa replies. It's not strictly true, but that isn't any of Gina's business. "Just not with criminals I'm meant to be arresting." The person behind Gina who had interrupted is now eyeing Gina with wariness.

"Fine, be like that," Gina says with a groan.

"Wait, so we're still going on the rollercoaster, right?" Jake asks. "Because if you back out of this now, I will _literally_ make you buy me twenty hotdogs to make up for it."

"Calm down, Jakey boy, we're still going on the rollercoaster," Gina tells him, clapping him on the shoulder. "I imagine Agent Hot But Boring Pants will be right here when we come out."

"Suppose I will," Rosa says, resisting the urge to sigh and instead crossing her arms to make herself seem less annoyed by the whole thing and more like she has a patience and determination of steel. The latter half is true, so it's easy enough to pull off.

Rosa walks off to explore her surroundings as the line starts moving, now that she has a bit of time before their return. She spots a park map and makes her way over to it, memorising it in case she needs to know the layout, should Gina and the others try and make a break for it or anything of the sort (although, that seems unlikely).

Memorising the map only takes a few seconds, of course, and once she's done she heads for a nearby bench and sits down to wait.

It's exactly seventeen minutes and thirty four seconds until she spots Gina and her humans emerging from the ride exit and heading her way. Not only are they actually still here, but Gina looks pleased to see here there. It's grating, and confusing.

"You didn't even try to get away," Rosa says, frowning at her.

"What would be the point?" Gina asks, with a shrug. "Come on, Jake wants candyfloss."

"And I care _why_?"

"Well, we're going to be going to the candyfloss stall, and since you're set on following me around, that means you're coming too, am I right?" Gina says, and Rosa grits her teeth because, of course, she _is_ right.

They walk to the candyfloss stall, buy said candyfloss, and that's how Rosa ends up with a stick of spun sugar in her hand without making any expression of interest in such a thing.

"I did _not_ ask for this," Rosa says to Gina when it is handed to her, frowning at the pink fluff and feeling oddly offended by its existence.

"I get the feeling you wouldn't ask for a bandage or plasma pack if you were bleeding out, so catch me _not caring_ ," Gina retorts. "Just shut up and eat the candy, Agent. You might even enjoy it."

Rosa is torn between not wanting to speak to her, and not wanting to follow any orders given to her by this annoying renegade, which leaves her irritated and unable to do much more than grumble and try tiny bits of the candyfloss.

It sticks to her teeth and she can taste that it truly is nothing but sugar and artificial colouring, but as much as she hates to admit it, even just to herself, there's something strangely pleasing about it - about how it dissolves on her tongue.

"See, not so bad, right?" Gina asks.

"Guess not," Rosa admits, without really meaning to.

"See? I take you to all the best places."

"You're not taking me anywhere, I'm chasing you, remember?"

"I know," Gina says, with too much enjoyment and a wide smirk. "That's why I'm playing so hard to get, remember? But I figured I could let you get a second date. First, Earth and ice cream, now theme park and candyfloss. You're welcome."

"A date?" Rosa is fairly sure that's what humans call instances of courting each other romantically. "This is… not a date. This is a federal pursuit."

"Yeah, but not quite in the way that you think," Gina replies, smirk still on her lips.

They've fallen behind the others again - Jake and Amy have taken up some kind of challenge to do with a game involving throwing balls at stacks of bottles. It seems primitive and pointless to Rosa, but then Time Lords have never been ones to care much about physical prowess, and she knows that makes them a minority in that particular regard.

"They're so cute when they care about dumb stuff like this," Gina says, tilting her head a little and smile. "Though don't _ever_ tell them I said that, or I'll make that hot ass of yours regenerate, on principle."

"Please don't make any comments about this body of mine ever again, complimentary or otherwise."

"Why not? Afraid you might like it?"

"No, creeped out because you're a lunatic criminal mastermind." Rosa winces as soon as the final word leaves her mouth, and the look of surprise on Gina's face instantly gives way to an unbearable smugness.

"Mastermind, huh?" Gina repeats, almost thoughtfully. "You're singing a pretty different tune there, Rosa. And I can't imagine _Holt_ would use that particular word, so… Kevner. _Kevner's_ involved, now? Wow, you guys are getting kind of desperate, huh? That's embarrassing for you."

"Shut up," Rosa growls, grabbing Gina and slamming her into the edge of the nearest stall.

Gina's eyes flash a darker shade. "Damn, you're strong, Agent. That was some serious manhandling - I shouldn't like that. Kinda do. Like, a lot. Probably too much."

" _Shut up_!"

"Don't you dare tell me to shut up," Gina says, affronted, properly scowling at her for the first time.

Rosa, on some deep, petty level, is relieved to have finally been able to piss her off after all the smiles and the laughter and the jokes.

"You don't get to run around and cause serious problems and jeopardise things that are crucial to the continuation of the fabric of reality and then keep acting like it's some kind of game," Rosa says, fuming, "Maybe it is for you, but the rest of us are getting serious heat over this. Holt was your teacher, right? You really think the President isn't going to think he's totally incompetent if he can't catch one renegade? You think he's going to keep his job? He's by _far_ the best person for the job, and the only one I'd ever trust to do it with any kind of moral compass. And if he loses it because of you, I will never stop coming for you, I will never let you get a moment of rest, until I've made you pay."

"Don't blame me for _your_ incompetency, _Agent_ ," Gina snaps, pushing out of her grip with surprising strength. "Holt is his own, grown person. It isn't _my_ responsibility to save his ass if he's in hot water. You want to save him? Do better, it's as simple as that. It's not _my_ job to make it easier for you, because I don't owe him _anything_ , and I definitely don't owe _you_."

Rosa stares at her, having not quite expected the push back. She recovers a moment later, and grabs Gina's arm, reaching for her stun gun with her other hand - only to meet empty air.

"Looking for this?" Amy's voice says in her ear, as the barrel of the gun presses against her back.

"Oh for - not _again-_ "

"Yes again, Rosa," Gina says. "Because they're my _companions_ , they're my friends, as gross as that might sound-"

"Slightly hurtful," Jake mutters from nearby.

"And I love them-"

"Okay, that's better-"

"Which is even weirder and grosser, I know-"

" _Aaand_ there it is again."

"But it's actually one of the best things ever," Gina finishes, spreading her hands in a kind of shrug, even though her air of casual caring isn't holding up when it's obvious how aggravated she still is from Rosa's attack. "They might be dumb humans, but they're _my_ dumb humans, and they're more of a match for you than you think. Santiago, go for your life."

"Could have done without the calling us dumb, twice," Amy says, "but it was kind of a sweet sentiment, so I'll take what I can get."

"Yeah, great, just shoot her already so we can go," Gina says impatiently.

Everything goes black as Amy fires the gun point blank.

* * *

Rosa wakes up to a couple of concerned theme park goers who had rushed to her aid after seeing her go down and her assailants make a break for it. She brushes them off with annoyance and hurries back to her TARDIS, to track down Gina and her companions.

They must have taken the stun gun. Although not the only one she had, it's irritating because it means that's another advantage in their column.

She's not sure how worried about Holt's position she actually is, but it had still been a worthwhile attempt to see whether she could appeal to the better nature Holt still seems to think that Gina possesses.

Rosa isn't convinced.

Gina is nothing but a selfish troublemaker who clearly doesn't give a damn about what repercussions her actions might have on anything or anyone else. And Rosa is going to take her down.

After tracing Gina's biodata to a new planet, one that doesn't have an official name and is just listed as Planet 34 in the Horsehead Nebula, Rosa steels herself for the next encounter with the most difficult foe she's ever faced (well, except for the one Dalek she's ever run into, but comparing Gina to the literal embodiment of evil in the universe is too harsh for even Rosa).

She grabs her backup stun gun and prepares it for use as she heads for the door. Nothing will go wrong this time. She won't let it.

She is going to take the stun gun, and use it, on all of them, and lug them all into her TARDIS two at a time, if that's what it takes. No more time for being a coward and caring what the locals think. They're all idiotic and close minded people who will pretend they never saw anything for their own peace of mind, and if not, then she has access to memory altering drugs, and can deal with it later.

Rosa steps out of the TARDIS into the corridor of what looks to be some kind of palace, if the fancy carpet and royal portraits and woven tapestries are any kind of indicator. Weirdly, royals across the universe often go for the same kind of decorations - probably an ego thing.

After discerning that the corridor is empty and it doesn't sound like anybody is coming, Rosa closes her eyes and tries to sense Gina's presence nearby. Sure enough, she feels that familiar spark of another Time Lord mind, and heads towards it.

Unfortunately, a bolted door of thick hardwood blocks her path. Annoyingly, or rather, ironically, it's too primitive for any technology of Rosa's to be any good at getting through it. She's going to have to find something more straightforward, like a highly powered torch or acid, in order to get through.

She heads back to the TARDIS, only to run right into a guard who comes into the hallway from one of the nearby passages.

" _Hey! Intruder_!" he shouts, before Rosa is able to whack him over the head with enough force to knock him out.

She stuns each of the guards as they appear, but she knows the moment she goes inside the TARDIS, she's going to be in trouble. They're on the lookout for anomalies, now, and so they'll pick that the new cupboard in the hallway is out of place and humming with energy. Or at least see her walk out of it if she tries to leave it again.

Better to run, and come back. Rosa heads down the nearest flight of stairs, stunning the last guard to try and follow her before she manages to lose them. She keeps going down, around and around the spiral stairs until she reaches the bottom and comes out into a dank dungeon.

"Urgh," she says, kicking at a nearby stool at how things had gone wrong. Gina was somewhere half a dozen floors up, and she'd run away instead of standing her ground.

But she wasn't supposed to confront those of other civilisations, if it could be avoided, and Holtmond's voice was always in the back of her head in these kinds of scenarios, so she begrudgingly does the smart thing instead of fighting them all, like she wants to so badly.

In the meantime, before she heads back upstairs, she takes a deep breath and casts her gaze around the dungeon.

"There's gotta be an axe around here somewhere," Rosa mutters, "what kind of dungeon doesn't have an axe?"

"Rosa?"

Hearing her name makes her whirl around, and she sees Amy standing in one of the cells, fingers curled around the bars as she stares at Rosa with desperate relief.

"Oh my god, it's really you," Amy says, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm so glad you're here. We need your help."

" _My_ help?" Rosa asks, staring at her. "You _shot_ me."

"It was a stun gun!"

"Yeah, and it pissed me off. Your point?"

"Rosa, please, Jake's hurt," Amy pleads, and Rosa glances behind her to where Charles has Jake cradled in his lap, a hand pressing on a bleeding wound in Jake's side. "It's… it's bad. If he doesn't get help soon-"

"Where's Gina?" Rosa interrupts. "Shouldn't she be helping you? You're her little...pets, you're her responsibility-"

"We're not pets, we're _companions_ ," Charles tries to say.

"Same difference."

"They took her," Amy says urgently, ignoring their debate, "That's why we're here in the first place, Gina offended the king, and so he locked her up, so he could execute her in front of all his subjects."

"Seems kind of overkill," Rosa replies, before making a face. "Then again, if anyone could inspire that by offending anyone, _she_ probably could."

Amy looks at her with distress. "He said they need a good execution once in a while to keep _morale_ up!"

The horror in her voice is almost amusing, like a general taking pleasure in an execution is the most barbaric thing she can think of. Rosa remembers when she had been fresh out of the Academy and similarly inexperienced with the rougher ways of the universe.

"Okay, makes enough sense, but how does that equal _him_ getting hurt?"

"The guards were being awful, and Jake tried to stand up to them, and defend us," Charles says mournfully. "He was so brave."

Jake shifts slightly, murmuring something indiscernible, and leans into Charles' touch. It looks like he's lost a lot of blood - or what Rosa is assuming is a lot for a human, anyway, though who knows? By how far gone he looks to be, she's going to assume it's enough to be worried about.

Huh. She actually _is_ slightly worried about him. That's bizarre on several levels, but a problem for another time.

"Please, Rosa, I know things have been crazy between us, but this is literally a matter of life and death, whatever it is between you and Gina, please, can it wait?" Amy asks, tears welling up in her eyes. "You're the closest thing we have to a friend here, and we need whatever we can get-"

"Okay, okay, god, I'll help, just please don't start crying," Rosa says, disgusted. "Who has the keys to the cell?"

"The guard just put them up on the wall, over there," Amy says, pointing, "I guess he wasn't that worried about anyone trying to rescue us."

Rosa fetches the keys and lets them out, only to find herself being hugged by a nearly hysterical Amy.

"Okay, you're going to let go of me in the next two seconds or I'm locking you back in that cell," Rosa says stiffly, and Amy stiffens and jumps away, eyes wide like a startled rabbit.

Charles, meanwhile, had hauled Jake up, but seems to be struggling with his weight.

"Oh, for-" Rosa approaches them and hoists Jake onto her shoulders, with only marginal effort. He's not particularly light, but Time Lords are stronger than they look, and she can handle it.

"Wow," Charles says, awed. "You're… amazing."

Rosa eyes him weirdly. "Please stop looking at me like that."

"Sorry," Charles says, without stopping. Amy looks similarly impressed, but wisely says nothing about it. She looks too worried to be paying compliments.

"Urgh." Rosa moves out of the cell and stops in the dungeon doorway, turning back to look at them, only just avoiding whacking Jake's head against the stone as she does so. "Okay, monkey one and monkey two, here's how it's going to work. I'm going to get you and monkey three back to my TARDIS. You are going to stay there. There's an infirmary that I'll give you directions to, and when you get there, you're going to tell the robot to put Jake in a stasis field to stop him dying before I can get back and make sure he's fixed up properly."

"And you're going to rescue Gina? While we do that?" Amy asks.

Rosa sighs, unable to believe the situation she's managed to walk into this time.

"Looks like it. And once I've saved her, I'm going to drag her ass back to Gallifrey, see her _punished_ , and then I'll personally put you three back on Earth where you belong, and where you will _stay_."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, please let me know what you thought!**


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